WITH little more than a thousand days to go before Hong Kong becomes part of the mainland once again, Chinese National Day should be an opportunity for, if not celebration, at least reconciliation. It is a chance to reflect on how the territory can best benefit from the opportunities which reunification will bring, as well as minimise the problems it is bound to cause.
Instead the 45th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic has turned out to be an occasion for recriminations: with accusations flying back and forth in all directions.
China and the Hong Kong Government, using last week's Foreign Ministers' meeting in New York as a conduit, continued to blame each other for the failure to make any significant progress towards achieving a smooth transition.
Pro-democracy protesters, apparently more concerned with the past than the future, clashed with police and marred the territory's official National Day celebrations at the Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai.
Then Beijing waded in, employing its own fine line of invective to harangue the Hong Kong Government for allowing Taipei's local representatives to use the Cultural Centre (like the Convention and Exhibition Centre, an Urban Council venue) to celebrate their own national day on October 10.
Premier Li Peng showed even less interest in reconciliation when he used his National Day speech in the Great Hall of the People to launch a savage attack on the Taipei regime: in a clear sign of Beijing's anger at being unable to prevent Taiwanese officials from attending the Asian Games.
That bitter blast may yet provoke further repercussions in the coming days: with the Chinese-Taipei Olympic Committee yesterday poised to severe its sporting ties with the mainland.
